The Henkel-owned haircare giant has partnered with the waste management company to make its retail hair care, color and styling products recyclable across the US. The sustainability push will see shoppers invited to collect their empty packaging from Schwarzkopf products, and send them to TerraCycle. Empties will then be recycled and transformed into new products such as park benches, bike racks, pet food bowls and recycling bins.   "We're proud that 100% of Schwarzkopf retail product packaging will now be recyclable," Manuela Emmrich, Marketing Director, Hair US, Henkel Beauty Care, said in a statement. "Through the TerraCycle/ Schwarzkopf program, there is now a solution for hair product packaging that has historically been difficult to recycle, due to a myriad of curb-side recycling program requirements." "The expansion of Henkel's partnership with TerraCycle is an important part of Henkel's commitment to a circular economy for plastic and sustainable packaging, and our target of ensuring 100 percent of our Beauty and Laundry & Home Care packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025," added Martina Spinatsch, Vice President, R&D, Beauty Care, Henkel North America. Three different Schwarzkopf Recycling Programs have been established to deal with aerosols, hair coloration products and all other packaging, with individuals, schools, offices and community organizations all encouraged to participate. Collectors can be rewarded for their efforts by earning points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school; or charitable organization of their choice. Schwarzkopf is not the only beauty brand turning to TerraCycle to up its recycling game -- Herbal Essences, Garnier USA and Gillette have all recently launched initiatives with the company.

Beauty isn’t just about expressing our natural external beauty. It’s about showing our inner personality while caring for the world God created. Here are 6 beauty companies that are making a difference in the environment through natural ingredients, packaging and earth care…  

1. Lush has a “less is more” philosophy for packaging. Your body will love their ingredients, your heart will love their handmade goods and the earth loves their minimal packaging. Available in store and online.
2. Meow Meow Tweet’s products, if used properly, go a long way and their products and cardboard packing are biodegradable. Available online and at Target.
3. Love Beauty and Planet packages their products in post-consumer recycled plastic to reduce waste. Our favorite products are their fast rinsing conditioners (which help save water during showers) and their aerosol free hairspray. Available online, at Target and
4. Seed Phytonutrients uses shower safe cardboard that can be separated from their minimalist plastic containers for easy recycling. Their paper packaging is compostable, and every product includes a seed packet that you can plant in your backyard! Available Online.
5. Ethique knows that bar products are safer on the environment than products stored in plastic bottles. All their products (including their shampoo) are in long-lasting bar form. Available at Amazon.
6. Splat Naturals Semi-Permanent Hair Color offers anything but natural colors, but they use minimal packaging and healthy ingredients, so have fun picking an outrageous shade to express your vibrant personality. Available online.

  Here are a few other tips for “going green” when it comes to your beauty products.  

Buy the biggest bottles possible.

Purchasing one extra-large bottle saves a lot of plastic compared to buying multiple smaller bottles.  

Not all packaging is recyclable.

Terracycle.com allows you to recycle your beauty products for free. Just join, collect your used beauty products, download a free shipping label and send in your waste to be recycled.  The following beauty brands are a part of their program:  

• Burt’s Bees
• Gillette and Venus Razors
• Tom’s of Maine
• Garnier
• EOS

There’s never been a better time for beauty brands trying to save the planet. Retail interest is growing in sustainable packaging and eco-conscious ingredient sourcing, and brands that appear to be ignoring their environmental footprints are met with swift disapproval. But the movement to green goods hasn’t yet translated into many consumers going out of their ways to make purchases prioritizing the fight against climate change.

Loop, a retail platform with a closed-loop (get it?) distribution system, is a high-profile test of people’s willingness to factor sustainability into their shopping habits. It’s the brainchild of Tom Szaky, co-founder and CEO of recycling company TerraCycle, whose dream of zero-waste consumption caused him to look into the past to inform the future. Szaky compares Loop to mid-20th century milkmen regularly dropping off glass milk bottles and picking up finished ones. Its distribution system is based on refillable packaging and doorstep delivery. Can Loop alter practices in a consumer packaged goods space in which disposability has been paramount? Heather Crawford, VP of marketing and e-commerce for Loop Global, argues its convenience is transformative. “This platform is actually designed for consumers to be able to easily adhere to,” she says. “Loop takes into consideration the fact that changing behavior is difficult. So, in the Loop model, people simply put their empties in the tote and send it back. It is no different for a consumer than putting empties in a recyclable bin or garbage can.” About a third of waste generated in this country is recycled, and I’m judicious about doing my part to keep the virtuous cycle going. Loop’s promise to further cut down on the waste stream I generate is incredibly appealing. As a realist, however, I know there’s only so much I will sacrifice to protect the environment. With its shippable totes and simple e-commerce interface, Loop seemed like a sustainability endeavor I could get behind and, distinct from in-store refillable programs, perhaps stick with. So, I decided to trial the service to see just how practical it is for the average consumer. Loop’s pilot program launched last spring in Paris and New York City. At the time, it was limited to 5,000 households in each city. Since then, Crawford points out, it’s added six new states of coverage as well as struck retail partnerships with Walgreens and Kroger. Currently, Loop is offered through the retailers’ websites, but its goal is to establish a presence in their stores this year. I’m located in New York City, and opted to try Loop’s online store, and stick to beauty and personal care orders. Loop’s assortment contains 31 beauty and personal care products from nine brands: Pantene, Ren, Soapply, Love Beauty and Planet, The Body Shop, Gillette, Venus, Crest and Puretto, an in-house line. Some brands and categories such as bath and body have more robust selections than others. A lonely mouthwash constitutes the entire oral care category. The majority of products carried by Loop are in the grocery and household categories, but Crawford says beauty is a key growth category, and the number of brands within it are excepted to rise this year. She declined to name brands that are coming to Loop. Loop customers order products packaged in refillable containers on its website, and the products arrive at their doorsteps in eco-friendly totes. After consumers are finished with them, Loop picks up the empty products and cleans the packaging to be used again. While browsing the grocery category, I noticed several items were out of stock. Beauty didn’t have that problem. The items were ready for purchase, and I bought two. Specifically, I purchased a 300-ml. bottle of Ren’s Atlantic Kelp and Magnesium Anti-Fatigue Body Wash, and an 8-oz. bottle of Soapply’s Liquid Hand Wash. Loop’s customers pay deposit fees. The deposit fees I paid ranged from $1.25 for Soapply’s Liquid Hand Wash to $5 for Ren products. On top of the deposit fees, there’s a $15 fee for the tote that products are delivered in. The deposits are 100% refundable once products are returned to Loop. Still, for me, the fees tacked on $21 to a $48 order. The price for my order of hand soap and body wash totaled $88.56, with tax. Thankfully, Loop comped the amount for the purposes of this piece because sustainability sure doesn’t come cheap. Product pricing on Loop can vary from product pricing elsewhere. Soapply’s Liquid Hand Wash cost $22.50 on the brand’s website. On Loop, without the bottle deposit, it was $23.75. Surprisingly, Ren’s Atlantic Kelp and Magnesium Anti-Fatigue Body Wash was significantly less expensive on Loop. It rang in at $24.30 versus $28 on its own site. After I placed my order, it was delivered via UPS the following evening. My two small beauty products arrived in a large tote. Apparently, there are no small totes at the moment. The delivery is fully eco-friendly, from the materials the tote is made of to the packing materials keeping the products safe and secure. I live and work in a very small one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment with minimal closet space (read: none). Holding on to the bulky tote while I enjoyed my products wasn’t practical or appealing to me. To declutter, I promptly decanted the bottles into empties I already had, and returned them along with the tote to my local UPS store to be shipped back with the included free shipping label. Loop allowed me to retain the deposit amounts in my online account for future orders or have them refunded to my card. I chose the refund, and the money was credited back to me in seven days.

“Loop takes into consideration the fact that changing behavior is difficult.”

TWEET THIS

Loop’s process wasn’t onerous, and lived up to the promise of not forcing me to change my conduct in a manner that would stop me from shopping at it. The company plans to reduce consumers’ efforts even more by teaming up with retail partners to set up Loop at stores to enable consumers to shop dedicated Loop aisles and return refillable products to the stores they’re frequenting. Loop didn’t specify when it will arrive inside stores or which physical stores will take part in its program. Despite people meticulously separating out waste materials into recycling bins, 91% of plastics wind up in landfills. That statistic emphasizes to me the importance of Loop’s system, and makes the endeavor a definite plus in my estimation. I’m heartened knowing the Soapply and Ren bottles I received aren’t destined for the ocean. The benefit for the planet is evident, but I wondered what the brands, specifically Soapply, the sole indie beauty brand currently on Loop’s site, gain by joining its selection. Asked about Soapply’s involvement, founder Mera McGrew responds, “Being selected to launch with Loop alongside all the major players in the consumer goods space was an exciting recognition of the leadership role Soapply is playing in the market. The immediate success we had on the platform, the continued growth we’ve seen, and the positive consumer response to Soapply have not only helped our bottom line, but continued to solidify our role as an emerging leader within the consumer goods space.” Prior to Loop, Soapply had a refill system with bottles made from recycled glass that replenish its 8-oz. bottles three times at a discounted price of $31.50 for 25.4 ounces. For the brand, the value of Loop is to amplify education and impact. “Startups and indie brands have resource limitations that require a constant reassessment of costs and a clear understanding of potential benefits connected with any decision or investment,” says McGrew. “Soapply is a public benefit corporation, so working collaboratively with Loop gives Soapply an opportunity to reiterate some of our core values and be a part of a larger system that is looking to empower individual consumers to help tackle the world’s waste problem.” Soapply is the only indie personal care brand available in Loop’s selection. Other brands are Pantene, Ren, Love Beauty and Planet, The Body Shop, Gillette, Venus, Crest and Puretto, an in-house line. Brands can’t partake in Loop unless they have sustainable packaging. Loop’s requirements are exacting. All containers have to withstand sanitization and survive over 100 uses. “Any business, regardless of how big or small, knows that any changes to packaging can represent a lot of dollar signs—sourcing, designing, changing production lines, etc.,” says McGrew. “If a product’s packaging isn’t already reusable and refillable, updating packaging for Loop would certainly represent a cost to any brand.” Crawford says, “We want to partner with companies large and small that want to redesign packaging to be durable and reusable. We have indie beauty brands which are in the process of on-boarding, and we’ve had very strong response to those we’ve launched thus far, with initial penetration rates [or percentages of the target market they’ve reached] of 35%-plus on new beauty product launches.” My experience with Loop demonstrates it makes eco-oriented beauty and personal care consumption pretty painless, but not universally affordable. A huge feat will be a program that’s attainable for low- to middle-income families. As Loop expands and scales, it will be fascinating to watch how it overcomes that large hurdle. In its current iteration, though, it’s undoubtedly a step in the right direction.

Shaving is a daily ritual for millions of men and women worldwide. Unfortunately, most commercial shaving supplies aren’t environmentally friendly. Plastic razor waste aside, ingredients in shaving products may harm your body and the environment. For example, many popular shaving creams contain triethanolamine (a combination of ethylene oxide and ammonia) and propylene glycol — a main ingredient in antifreeze and brake fluid. Contact with triethanolamine has been linked to allergic reactions while contact with propylene glycol has been connected to allergies, eczema, and asthma.   Shaving without mindfully sourcing your supplies puts harmful chemicals like propylene glycol and triethanolamine back into the water ecosystem. These chemicals get absorbed by fish and other organic matter and can end up back on someone’s kitchen table.   Canned shaving creams also contain hydrocarbon propellants like butane or propane to make the product foam. Hydrocarbons are harmful to the environment because they’re a source of greenhouse gases.   The good news? Nontoxic shaving supplies exist and building an eco-friendly shaving kit won’t cost as much as you think. From your toiletry bag to your razor, here are seven must-have supplies for your eco-friendly shaving kit.   1. An Eco-Friendly Vegan Toiletry Bag   A vegan toiletry bag is the foundation for an earth-friendly shaving kit, but finding one that’s also eco-friendly isn’t easy. The majority of leather alternatives use polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a toxic material that isn’t biodegradable. Conventional cotton farmers use herbicides and pesticides, so avoid grabbing a toiletry bag off the department store shelf without checking what it’s made of.   Recommended Vegan Toiletry Bags   There’s a new vegan leather made from pineapple leaves called Piñatex. This leather-like material is made by a company called Ananas Anam, and is being used by several big brands including Hugo Boss. Pineapple leaves are a byproduct of existing agriculture so there’s less environmental impact.   Although sourcing pineapple leaves doesn’t adversely impact the environment, turning the leaves into leather requires using a petroleum-based resin, which isn’t biodegradable. Ananas Anam is working with a leading Dutch textile company to create a bio-resin alternative. Considering most synthetic vegan leather contains PVC, which releases dangerous dioxins, Piñatex is a safer and less damaging option.   If you’d like a toiletry bag made with this leather alternative, head over to Etsy for a Piñatex toiletry bag handmade in Belgium.   If you prefer the look and feel of cotton, Terra Thread offers a selection of vegan, fair trade, GOTS certified organic cotton pouches in various sizes. Choosing an eco-friendly vegan toiletry bag says you care about people, too. Although leather is a popular option for toiletry bags, the leather industry exposes workers in developing countries to toxic chemicals, acids, and solvents that can cause serious, long-term harm.  

2. Metal Razor

  Get ready to shave like your grandparents! Old-school wet shaving tools are making a comeback because they’re affordable and they produce a cleaner, closer shave than anything you’ll get from a disposable or cartridge razor.   You can pick up one of these best-selling metal safety razors from Amazon in various styles, including different colors and varying handle lengths. Women who use safety razors to shave their legs prefer long handles and many people prefer short-handled safety razors for traveling. Note: If you’re traveling with a safety razor, the blades are not allowed in carry-on luggage. While some brave men and women opt for a classic straight razor, most prefer a double-edged safety razor. Safety razors made from steel or chrome are built to last for generations. You could probably use your great grandfather’s razor and just replace the blade!  

Still Not Ready to Switch to a Reusable Razor?

  Recycling disposable razors isn’t profitable for waste management companies because the materials cost more to process than they’re worth. But if you’re not ready to try a reusable safety razor —or willing to endure the sharp learning curve (pun intended) to shave with a straight razor — you may be able to continue using disposable razors without tossing them into a landfill.   Qualified businesses and organizations that are willing to make a small effort can become collection points to gather disposable razors for recycling. In 2019, TerraCycle, a company that’s committed to recycling “un-recyclable” materials, launched a free razor return program with Gillette. You simply sign up online and provide your organization’s address. If your organization qualifies, you will receive a collection bin and TerraCycle will list the organization’s address on their map as a public drop-off point. When the bin is full, seal and send the bin to TerraCycle and request a new bin.   The program accepts cartridge heads and razors from all brands, including used blades from safety razors. Learn more about TerraCycle’s free Gillette Razor Recycling Program.  

3. A Tin To Collect Used Blades for Recycling

  Part of being environmentally responsible means using products that produce minimal waste, and that includes your used blades. You don’t need to shove used blades into the wall like your grandfather did. Metal safety razor replacement blades can now be recycled, making a safety razor as eco-friendly as a straight razor. But don’t toss them in your recycling bin; used blades are a safety hazard for recycling workers. Collect them in a secure metal tin, and when it’s full, take it to a drop-off location for TerraCycle’s Gillette Razor Recycling program, mentioned above. You can search for a drop-off location near you on TerraCycle’s interactive map.  

4. Coconut Oil

  Pre-shave oil is important for both men and women. Today’s disposable razor shaving culture has eliminated the use of pre-shave oil, but if you want a close shave without razor bumps, rashes, or nicks, you need pre-shave oil. Instead of buying small packages of chemical-based products down the shaving aisle, try coconut oil.   You can buy coconut oil in the grocery store in small jars, but if you already use coconut oil for other purposes like cooking, oil pulling, or conditioning your dog’s coat, get a giant tub from a bulk store like Costco.   To use coconut oil as a pre-shave oil, rub some in your hands (or heat it in a pan in the winter) and rub a generous amount on the area you’re going to shave just prior to applying shaving cream. The oil will provide extra glide for your razor.   If you’re allergic to coconuts, try jojoba oil.  

5. Handmade Shaving Cream or Shaving Soap

  Ditch the canned stuff and whip up a batch of homemade shaving cream. Canned shaving cream is expensive and the chemical ingredients dry out your skin. Making your own shaving cream gives you full control over the ingredients you absorb into your skin.   If you have soap making experience or you want to learn a new skill, follow these instructions to make your own shaving soap. If you’re not a soap maker or just want a quick option, DIY shaving cream is an easy project.   Alternatively, you can buy handmade shaving soap from a crafter on Etsy or Amazon and support a small business. Shaving soap may come in a puck, squeeze tube or bar. Here are some soaps to consider:  

• Maison Lambert’s organic shaving soap puck with argon oil and jojoba oil in a cedarwood scent
• Dr. Bronner’s unscented shaving soap in a squeeze tube with fair trade and organic ingredients
• Beauty by Earth’s organic shaving soap bar with all natural ingredients, sulfate and paraben free

6. A Shaving Brush & Scuttle

  If you use shaving soap, you might consider two more tools for your shaving kit: a shaving brush to create and apply lather and a scuttle or shaving bowl. If you’re new to shaving soap, it’s best to practice creating lather by using a scuttle. However, as time goes by you might switch to lathering directly on your body. Some men prefer to create lather directly on their face and some women prefer creating lather directly on their legs.  

7. A Washcloth

  Those disposable face wipes floating around in your toiletry bag may be handy, but they’re not eco-friendly. Replace them with a washcloth, soap, and water. You don’t really need fancy wipes to wash your face.   What’s in your eco-friendly shaving kit?   Do you have an eco-friendly shaving kit? What’s inside? Share your tips in the Earthling Forum or the comments below so we can all start finding eco-friendly replacements for products we can’t live without.

City of Brighton now has expanded recycling offerings. As part of continued efforts to help minimize waste and divert as much material as possible from entering landfills, the City has implemented a new recycling program. The recent announcement was made on the City of Brighton’s Facebook page. The Gillette Razor Recycling Program is provided through TerraCycle and is now available for residents in the City and surrounding areas. Citizens can drop off all brands of razors, razor blades and both their rigid and flexible plastic packages at the City’s DPW offices located at 420 South Third Street. After the items are received by TerraCycle, they’re broken down and separated by material. Plastics are cleaned and pelletized to be recycled into new products, such as picnic tables and park benches while the metal is sent for smelting and conversion to new alloys. The razor recycling program is said to be different than others as TerraCycle accepts both of the razor packages. If all goes well, it’s possible the City could expand into other product recycling programs through the company. (JM)

The world's largest consumer goods companies have a big problem: The plastic waste that piles up in landfills and oceans has their corporate logos all over it. To try to fix it, they're increasing recycling efforts, sponsoring beach cleanups and switching up packaging materials, among other things. The most radical effort, though, is also the hardest to pull off: Get consumers to switch from single-use to reusable packages.   It may seem impossible, but Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestlé, Clorox and PepsiCo are all trying it out, thanks to Tom Szaky.   Szaky is the founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a recycling company based in Trenton, New Jersey. He's also the driving force behind Loop, an innovative service he likens to a 21st century milk man. Launched in May, the service sells brand-name goods like Tide detergent, Pantene shampoo, Gillette razors and Häagen-Dazs ice cream all in reusable packages. Participants pay a refundable deposit for each package, use the products, throw the empty containers into a Loop tote and send them back to be cleaned and refilled. Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle, convinced Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestlé and other large consumer goods makers to launch a new shopping service using reusable packaging. (Mark Kauzlarich for CNN)   The stakes are high for all involved. For Szaky, failure could mean the loss of a significant investment and his reputation as a green business whiz. The companies, too, poured time and money into the project. For them, failure means one fewer solution to their plastic waste problem.   It's "the biggest risk we've ever done," Szaky told CNN Business's Rachel Crane. "It's in every way a massive gamble."   But Szaky is no stranger to risk.   Can one man bring back reusable packaging?    Durable packaging fell out of fashion decades ago, when cheap, disposable plastics replaced glass bottles and containers. Today, reintroducing the public to a system of reusable packaging is a tall order. Consumers have become accustomed to the ease of quickly tossing things away. Reusing items, however, requires them to take an extra step to preserve the packages. That's why, when Lisa McTigue Pierce, executive editor of Packaging Digest, heard about Loop, she was skeptical.   "When I first got the information, I thought to myself, 'Wow, this is never going to take off,'" she said. But then she had another thought. "This is Tom Szaky at TerraCycle ... one of the best marketers I have ever seen," she said. "If anybody could make this work, it's going to be Tom."   That's because Szaky has a history of pulling off the improbable. A number of Loop products, all of which are in reusable containers, are arranged before a Loop tote. (Mark Kauzlarich for CNN)   Eighteen years ago, as a freshman at Princeton, he came up with the idea to sell worm poop as a natural fertilizer. Szaky turned it into a business, and soon dropped out of college to make it grow.   He convinced Princeton undergraduates to work for free, and persuaded older friends to leave their steady jobs for leadership positions at the company. In its early years, leaning on paltry funds from investors and winnings from entrepreneurship competitions, TerraCycle teetered on the edge of collapse.   But then Szaky convinced big-box retailers like Home Depot and Walmart, which were already stocking established fertilizers like Miracle-Gro, to take a chance on his product. It's easy to see why they might have turned him down. TerraCycle's plant food was not only made from waste but packaged in waste, too: used soda bottles and discarded caps.   While Szaky was chasing meetings with major retailers, other eco-friendly companies and environmentalists were swearing to never work with the likes of Walmart. But Szaky has always believed that in order for his green products to make a difference, he would have to work with — not against — corporate America. He's taking that approach with Loop today.   "My goal consumer is someone in the middle of America who may still even not be convinced on climate change, because if I can get him to participate, then we can really change the world," he said. "This is why we're working with the largest manufacturers, the largest retailers. Because that is what America likes today."   Szaky has always been able to get people's attention.   In 2003, when he was just 23 years old, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ran a short documentary about TerraCycle. In it, Szaky talks openly about his fears and the risk he's taken, revealing that he asked investors for money to build a facility that would help fill nonexistent orders, and that he was pushing a new product he wasn't sure worked. His openness is charming, as is his obvious commitment to the cause: Szaky lugs furniture left behind by Princeton students back to a dilapidated house dedicated to putting up staffers over the summer, and refuses to buy any new packaging — or do anything the "normal" way. Three years later, at age 26, Szaky had landed on the cover of Inc. Magazine, which lauded TerraCycle as "the Coolest Little Start-Up in America."   Since then, he's written four books and maintained his status as a media darling, even launching a TerraCycle reality show called "Human Resources" on the now defunct network Pivot. It lasted for three seasons. Szaky, left, speaks with a coworker in his office. Recycled plastic bottles form a curtain that walls off his office at the TerraCycle headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey. (Mark Kauzlarich for CNN)   Szaky, now in his late 30s, is still able to punch above his weight. Two years ago, at the ritzy World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he landed a spot on stage with the CEOs of Walmart, Alibaba and Heineken to discuss the future of consumption. And he is still successful at enticing employees, some of which have taken major pay cuts, to work out of TerraCycle's modest headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey, which is decorated with trash.   Heather Crawford, vice president of marketing and eCommerce for Loop, left a managerial position at Johnson & Johnson to join TerraCycle in November. "Tom is a visionary who genuinely dreams about a waste-free world," she said. "He has these idealistic goals that he drives the whole team towards, and he asks people to do the impossible."   Over the years, TerraCycle evolved, moving on from fertilizer to transforming items that are difficult to recycle into something new. Today, TerraCycle repurposes used batteries, backpacks, coffee capsules, cooking oil and more. The company is doing well: In the first six months of 2019, TerraCycle reported net income of $1.8 million on revenue of $11.2 million. Sales were up 19% from the same period a year earlier, driven in part by new recycling partnerships with Gillette, Williams and Sonoma, Reebok and General Mills.   In September, TerraCycle also launched a car seat recycling event with Walmart. The event proved so popular, Walmart shut it down early, citing an "overwhelming response."   "We have a successful, profitable, growing business," Szaky said. The new venture could change that. With Loop, "we are sort of putting that on the line," Szaky noted.   "We've put close to 10 million of our own dollars into it. We're going to put even more," he added. "Any big idea requires that leap."   Convenience is key   In order for Loop to work, it has to be easy for consumers.   Today, consumers demand convenience, noted Pierce of Packaging Digest. "Without that — even with Tom and all of his strong partners, the consumer packaged goods companies — I don't know that it would work.   Especially when you think of the cost premium for this service," she said. "That convenience angle is everything."   Although Loop products are designed to cost about the same as their traditional counterparts, users do have to put down a deposit when they make a purchase online. The deposit can range from 25 cents to $10, depending on the item.   Consumers get it back unless they break, keep or lose the package. But some customers may be unwilling or unable to put down a deposit upfront. Individual deposits add up, and if people use the service for long periods of time, they won't get that money back for a while.   Szaky, who recognizes that the deposit could be a roadblock for some, aims to make Loop as convenient as possible. His hope is that customers will toss their empties into a used tote just as they would toss their empty containers into the trash. There's no need to wash them first: Loop handles the cleaning. And thanks to the rise of e-commerce, consumers see delivery as the most convenient option already.   Plus, in 2020, Loop products are slated to be available in major retailers like Walgreens and Kroger. That means, in addition to at-home pickup and delivery, consumers will be able to buy and drop off Loop products in person. Ultimately, Szaky wants to build a big enough network to allow customers to pop into one local store to buy a Loop product, and swing by another to drop a Loop package off.   For Szaky, ubiquity will be a marker of success.   "I would sit back and start feeling like we're doing it when I see Loop pop up unconsciously," he said. "I would feel we really got there where it's a common question of, 'Hey, would you like that in disposable or durable?'"   Szaky thinks things are moving in the right direction. Companies that committed to join the pilot with just a few products have added others, and more are in the pipeline. Loop currently includes 120 products and the service adds an average of two new products every week.   When new brands join, their competitors tend to hop on board, as well, afraid of being outdone. For example, Loop launched with reusable Häagen-Dazs ice cream containers, and soon "the biggest ice cream companies, their competitors, called us and said, 'How do we get involved? How do we go even bigger?'" Szaky recalled. This is "what competition is supposed to do, is keep making products better and pushing each other." Nestlé designed a reusable Häagen-Dazs container for Loop, sparking envy from its competitors. (Brinson + Banks for CNN)   Today, Loop operates in parts of France and the East Coast in the United States, and is used by more than 10,000 people. Orders are continuously increasing each week, and repeat order rates are strong, the company says. Next year, the service will launch in London, Toronto and Tokyo, as well as parts of Germany and California.   Scaling up so broadly and so quickly is risky, however.   "One of the things that keeps me up at night is building out the actual operational scale-up plan," said Crawford.   A lot had to happen just to get Loop to the pilot phase. Companies had to develop new durable containers that were easy to clean and use. It took Nestlé 15 tries to get that envy-inducing ice cream container right. Szaky and his corporate partners have to make sure that packages are delivered, collected, cleaned and reshipped in a timely manner — a complex logistical proposition, especially considering how many different companies are involved. Loop currently uses one cleaning facility in Southeast Pennsylvania to process its US-based orders. But as it continues to expand, TerraCycle says it will need to add more facilities in other parts of the country.   For now, the project is small, and the Loop team is taking careful notes on consumer behaviors, complaints and preferences. But if Loop gets as big as Szaky wants it to, the system will have to work, impeccably, on its own.   "All of the moving pieces, logistically, operationally, new facilities in all of these regions and all of the steps and pieces that need to happen in the expansion plan is something that's going to take a tremendous amount of time and attention from our team, and also support from partners," Crawford said.   If things go wrong — orders get held up, items are out of stock, or people feel burdened by yet another shopping platform — people could give up on the idea of reusables.   Historically, consumers have often valued convenience over the environment. Starbucks, for example, has tried for years to get consumers to use reusable cups, selling durable versions of their cup for a few dollars and offering discounts to customers who bring their own mugs. But the company has consistently found that despite its efforts, just a small fraction of consumers actually bring their own cup to the store. Can Loop finally crack the code, convincing consumers to switch to reusables?   Meanwhile, the clock is ticking: companies participating in Loop won't wait forever for the concept to prove out.   Eventually, "their primary concern is going to be return to shareholders," Crawford said. "At some point in this process it needs to become profitable."   Experts are optimistic that this time, things could be different.   With Loop, Szaky's "timing is impeccable," said Pierce. Consumers are looking for solutions to the plastic waste crisis, and Loop could be a good one. Ultimately, companies may go in a different direction, like biodegradable wrapping or package-free grocery aisles instead of reusable containers. Szaky's company TerraCycle transforms hard-to-recycle items, like batteries, backpacks and coffee capsules, into something new. (Mark Kauzlarich for CNN)   No matter what, big corporations will have to seriously reconsider the way their goods are being sold. Unilever said on Monday that it plans to cut its use of non-recycled plastic in half by 2025. To deliver on that promise, the company will have to collect over 660,000 tons of plastic per year, and continue to innovate its product line. In addition to reusable packages, Unilever has tried out soap-like shampoo bars, bamboo toothbrushes and cardboard deodorant sticks, among other things.   "The challenge around packaging is not going to go away," said Tensie Whelan, director of NYU Stern School of Business's Center for Sustainable Business. "Growing regulatory scrutiny of it is not going to go away. Growing consumer concern about it is not going to go away. And growing cost of waste disposal and the environmental impact is not going to go away."   Szaky knows that his partners are in desperate need of a solution. When he first approached companies about Loop, he targeted ones that were featured on a Greenpeace list of worst plastics polluters, because he knew they had a potential public relations crisis on their hands. He's hoping that the scope of the problem will inspire the type of changes needed to make Loop a success.   "Loop is a gargantuan ask," Szaky acknowledged. "We're going into a Procter & Gamble and saying, 'reinvent the packaging of these world-famous products completely, build production lines to fill this reinvented package, oh, and, by the way, I have no proof if anyone's going to buy it at all.'"   And Szaky knows that people are paying attention to what he's doing. Loop has "a very big responsibility," he said. "I think a lot of people are going to think about whether there's a future in reuse by whether we succeed or not."

Common household items that are actually bad for the environment It’s no secret that the environment is facing some serious challenges. To help give you a better idea of what surprising household items are hurting the environment, Stacker has put together a gallery of 30 common items that are ecologically harmful.     It’s no secret that the environment is facing some serious challenges. In May, the United Kingdom declared a state of emergency because of climate change, and shortly thereafter Ireland, France, Canada, and New York City all followed suit. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that issues such as land degradation, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and climate change are all “growing problems that need to be urgently addressed.” Other issues include air and water pollution, deforestation, wildlife destruction, and resource depletion. According to UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner: “If current trends continue and the world fails to enact solutions that improve current patterns of production and consumption…then the state of the world’s environment will continue to decline.”   Air pollution causes one in 10 deaths worldwide, according to the World Bank, making it the fourth-largest risk factor throughout the globe. In North America alone, about 140 million people are exposed. Further, UNEP says that new chemical contaminants are emerging every day. Global warming is another huge factor impacting North America. “Climate change is damaging the environment, human health and well-being and, in some cases, human security in the region,” the organization says. In addition, there are threats to waterways and coastal ecosystems because of acidification, ocean warming, sea level rise, and marine debris.   With these threats, it’s hard to know where to start if you want to help. However, some environmentalists say the best place to begin is inside your own home. Many everyday items lying around your house can be contributing to the problem because of what they’re made of, how they’re produced, or how they’re disposed of. But it’s not always obvious. Sure, there are the easy ones like plastic bags and motor oil, but many of the biggest threats are more insidious.   To help give you a better idea of what surprising household items are hurting the environment, Stacker has put together a gallery of 30 common items that are ecologically harmful. In each slide, we’ve provided information about why the item is harmful and what you can do to reduce your impact. Take a look to see which ones surprise you.

In anticipation of the Global Climate Strike, final documents were drafted to establish a new Eco Belles club on Wednesday, which aims to encourage Belles to make sustainable choices and lead recycling and other sustainability initiatives on campus.   Rebecca Klaybor, a Saint Mary’s junior and president of Eco Belles, said she was inspired to start the club after she took a costume shop class taught last semester by Melissa Bialko, professional specialist in costume design in the SMC Program of Theater and now faculty advisory for Eco Belles.   “This class discussed ethics in the fashion industry so that’s what sparked my true interest in the environment along with climate change complications,” Klaybor said.   Saint Mary’s junior and Eco Belles vice president Emily Emerson said she noticed a lack of sustainability clubs on campus and wanted to change that.   Emerson, Klaybor and Bialko began to work together last year to develop sustainability initiatives for the Saint Mary’s community, which eventually culminated in the founding of Eco Belles.   “We’re working with a group called TerraCycle,” Emerson said. “They have a whole bunch of free recycling programs, and eventually we would like to be able to use their boxes, where you can put anything besides food waste in and they will figure out a way to recycle it for you.”   She said though the program is great, buying and shipping boxes is expensive and they are trying to raise the money to participate in the box program. However, other recycling initiatives led by the group are already active on campus.   “We’re also currently working with Nike and H&M,” Emerson said. “Nike will take any kind of shoes in any condition and make them into different clothes, new shoes and even basketball courts. H&M recycles fabrics and is working with the theater department because we use a lot of different fabrics and we have a lot of scraps.”   TerraCycle has multiple different recycling programs that Eco Belles are participating in, she said, including programs to recycle used Brita filters, contact lenses, razors, oral hygiene, clean makeup products, personal products and the packaging in which all of these items are sold.   “You don’t really think about [the waste] until you see that there are ways you can recycle [these products] instead of just throwing them in the garbage,” Emerson said. “I hope this makes the campus much more sustainability-minded and recognize where things are being just thrown in the trash when they don’t need to be. And just being more conscious of how much waste we produce as a campus is huge. This is a necessary step to take as a school, because it can be broadened across the tri-campus community and to other colleges across Indiana.”   The main way that Saint Mary’s students can get involved, Klaybor said, is to start collecting items to donate and recycle. On campus, there are bins outside of the costume shop where students can bring donations or recyclable items. Eco Belles will then organize and send that collection to the proper place.   Eco Belles meetings are every other Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the Saint Mary’s costume shop in Moreau. Klaybor invites everyone to bring their own mugs for coffee and tea, as well as whatever donations and recycling they may have.   “I hope that people will learn that being eco-friendly is easier than what people think,” Klaybor said. “People just need to be taught how easy it is to recycle throughout their day. I hope that campus can learn that being eco-friendly isn’t that difficult, and there are small things that can make a big difference in the long run.”

Gillette, in partnership with international recycling leader TerraCycle, announce for the first-time in Canada, that all brands of disposable razors, replaceable-blade cartridge units and razor plastic packaging are recyclable on a national scale.   Through the innovative partnership consumers are invited to recycle their razors in two ways:   ·              Gillette Razor Recycling Program – Participants wishing to recycle their razors from home are invited to sign up on the program page https://www.terracycle.com/en-CA/brigades/gillette-razor-recycling-program-ca-en. When ready to ship their waste, they can simply download a free TerraCycle shipping label, package the razors in a secure, puncture proof package and send it to TerraCycle for recycling.   ·              Gillette Razor Local Recycling Solutions – Businesses, gyms, colleges, cities and community organizations are invited to become public drop-off points for the Gillette Razor Recycling Program. Participants interested in becoming a drop-off point are invited to sign up on the program page https://www.terracycle.com/en-CA/brigades/gillette-razor-retailer-recycling-program-ca-en. After acceptance to the program, they will be sent an exclusive razor recycling bin developed by TerraCycle and Gillette. Once full, they can simply seal and return the bin to TerraCycle via UPS and a new one will be sent back to them. The address listed in the account will be posted on the publicly available map of local recycling solutions on the Gillette Razor Recycling Program page.   “Through this innovative, first of its kind program, disposable razors, replaceable-blade cartridge units and their associated packaging are now nationally recyclable through the Gillette Recycling Program,” said TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky. “We are proud to partner with this forward-thinking company to offer consumers a way to divert razor waste from landfills.”   “We are very excited about our partnership with TerraCycle to offer recycling for Gillette, Venus or any razor brand across Canada. This is an important first step towards sustainable solutions for shaving products and the start of an exciting journey with Gillette and TerraCycle.” said Gillette Canada Leader, Jennifer Seiler.   For every shipment of waste sent to TerraCycle through the Gillette Razor Recycling Program or the Gillette Razor Local Recycling Solution, collectors earn points that can be used for charity gifts or converted to cash and donated to the non-profit, school or charitable organization of their choice. The collected packaging will be recycled into a variety of new consumer products such as park benches, bike racks, pet food bowls and recycling bins.   To learn more about the program, please visit www.terracycle.ca.   ABOUT GILLETTE For more than 115 years, Gillette has delivered precision technology and unrivalled product performance – improving the lives of over 800 million consumers around the world. From shaving and body grooming, to skin care and sweat protection, Gillette offers a wide variety of products including razors, shave gel (gels, foams and creams), skin care, after shaves, antiperspirants, deodorants and body wash. For more information and the latest news on Gillette, visit www.gillette.com. To see our full selection of products, visit www.gillette.com. Follow Gillette on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.   ABOUT PROCTER & GAMBLE P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit https://www.pg.com/ for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands.   About TerraCycle TerraCycle is an innovative waste management company with a mission to eliminate the idea of waste®.   Operating nationally across 21 countries, TerraCycle partners with leading consumer product companies, retailers, cities, and facilities to recycle products and packages, from dirty diapers to cigarette butts, that would otherwise end up being landfilled or incinerated. In addition, TerraCycle works with leading consumer product companies to integrate hard to recycle waste streams, such as ocean plastic, into their products and packaging. TerraCycle has won over 200 awards for sustainability and has donated over $44 million to schools and charities since its founding 15 years ago. To learn more about TerraCycle or get involved in its recycling programs, please visit www.terracycle.ca.